PC and Music News

New iPad 2 arrives March 11!

It's 33 percent thinner and up to 15 percent lighter, so it feels even more comfortable in your hands. Two powerful cores in one A5 chip mean iPad can do twice the work at once. Multitasking is smoother, apps load faster, and everything just works better.

With up to nine times the graphics performance, gameplay on iPad is even smoother and more realistic. And faster graphics help apps perform better — especially those with video. Even with the new thinner and lighter design, iPad has the same amazing 10-hour battery life. You'll see two cameras on iPad — one on the front and one on the back. The iPad Smart Cover falls perfectly into place and stays put to protect your iPad screen, yet doesn't add bulk to its thin, light design.

Image-Line Software are pleased to announce the FL Studio 9.9 Beta is available for testing.

Please note, all previous FL Studio 9.x Betas have expired and you need to download the 9.9 Beta to continue work started in earlier versions. FL Studio 9.9 expires April 15.

Some new features and bugs fixed:

- New Project Picker browser, improves Playlist workflow allowing Patterns to be previewed and selected.
- Chainer, an instrument and effect plugin chainer.
- ZgeViz a music visualization effect plugin based on the free open source ZGameEditor.
- Fixed problem with sidechain selectors in Vocodex.
- Fixed tiny bug in envelope filter tool.
- Fixed rendering start time problem.
- Fixed small bug on playlist loop marker deletion.
- Fixed bug when deleting playlist clips through their menu.
- Fixed bug when undoing recording of audio+piano roll when there were no notes yet.
- Fixed crash when sending presets directly to plugin window in some rare cases.

The powerful and intuitive software comprises of a vast array of amps, cabinets, mics and effects, recreated in stunning detail. The latest version includes 3 new amps, 4 new super-flexible effects and above all, the revolutionary Control Room for that "big bucks" studio tone.

Some new features and bugs fixed in Guitar Rig v4.1.2:

- Mac OS X 64-bit compatibility (AU, VST & Standalone).
- Improved Guitar Rig 3 preset sound compatibility.
- Rig Kontrol 1 recall fix.
- Reflektor convolution timings fix.
- CoreAudioDevice crash fix.
- Recording pedal automation fix.
- Several smaller fixes.

Released this week, 'Sultan Strings' is a massive collection of string ensemble performances focusing on live performances by one of the world's best Middle Eastern string ensembles and royalty free custom composed Arabian styled phrases.
3 violins, 1 viola and 1 cello make up this strong and convincing performance sampling string ensemble. Working from the base up, Sonokinetic created a diverse collection of phrases that would need to be widely usable in music compositions and large audio productions, so tempo syncing and a wide availability in all keys was top priority in this production.

What's more Sultan Strings sees Sonokinetic investing in multiformats so the range of sampling possibilities is extended past the proven dedicated Kontakt format making this collection widely accessible for every producer and composer.

Introductory RRP: £66.95 / €79.95

Drum Nugs Vol.1 Beats & Breaks drum loops are being offered for a limited time at the No Brainer price of $10 until 4/1/11 after which the price will be $30.

Vol.2 will be comprised of 4 packs in total, each costing $20. The 1st Pack of Drum Nugs Vol.2 is "LatinTing" release date 4/1/11 – traditional rhythms as well as beats influenced by Afro Cuban, Caribbean, Brazilian and Latin Jazz/Funk grooves.
Genji Siraisi (Producer, composer, drummer and founding member of the Grammy nominated group Groove Collective) Continues his series of live drum loop packages for the Drum Nugs collection. Drum NugsVol.1 Breaks & Beats is based around a series of recordings done on different kits in various venues. Vol.1 was recorded in four different cities in two countries. The Drum Nugs collection mostly fall into the acoustic breakbeat category but they range stylistically from old school breaks to Jazz, Latin, Rock and beyond. Some of the beats have been processed heavily putting them into a more modern realm and making them suitable for a wide variety of uses.

DB4 MKII and DB8 MKII conform to new EBU, ATSC and ITU Loudness and True-peak level standards across all platforms and all formats. The broadcast world's highest resolution, lowest latency and lowest distortion comes complimentary with DB4 MKII and DB8 MKII.

More Metering
The MKII versions feature the new EBU R128 and ATSC A/85 compliant LM6 Loudness Meter, new SNMP functions and one week of detailed logging, even without connection to a computer. In DB4 MKII, the LM6 meter is always available in addition to its two multichannel audio processors.